Re: [Leica] Time to Replace that R4S . . .

[Mark Rabiner <mark@rabinergroup.com>]

BenMarks@aol.com wrote:
> 
> Well, the ol' R4S has been diagnosed with a bad mirror case escapement -- supposedly the linkage between the R4s's meter and the chip which controls the shutter speed on auto-exposure.  And wouldn'cha know the cost to repair is greater than the cost to replace (check out the astoundingly low prices on the R4s at KEH.com, for example).
> 
> So this begs the question:  What to replace this camera with?  I am looking for R-family recommendations (please no discussion of digi-this-or-that). Any recommendations or regrets amoung those shooting with R5, 6, 6.2, 7 or RE?  Any dogs in this group?  I have to say, I use my R-series camera when I want the exposure-automation features and have LOVED the results.  Lenses are 35-50-135.  Incidentally, I think that R8 and 9 are too spendy for me, even used, given the amount of use this camera gets compared to my Ms.
> 
> I'm thinking that I won't replace with another R4-era camera unless someone has a recommendation as to how to avoid electronics problems.  All of my "sudden death" camera problems with Leicas (as opposed to idiot-photographer dropping one for ex.) have been electronics problems.  Dead meter - M6 after 10 years (second user), dying meter on R4s after 8 years (second user) and "manual" - ISO setting malfunction on my new M7 (still figuring out when I can part with it for repairs as the DX-reading function seems to work fine).
> 
> So, R-users, what's working for you and why?
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Ben Marks
> benmarks-at-AOL.com
> --
I beg to disagree. And would politely call this BS.
Buying and selling diatribe number 87 Q.
Please delete post if you've read these before from me.
Every 4 months. You know the drill.

If the price to replace an  R4s is so astounding low then why look for
another type of body? 
Has it be established that this "bad mirror case escapement..." is a
major ongoing flaw of the whole camera production justifying this very
low market price? Because it sounds to me like a great deal would the R
people please inform us?!
As it is it's not clear why at this point to go looking for another type
of body.

And It's tricky call shopping for a camera he plans to seldom use.
Naturally he plans to not spend too much for it as he says.
But something goes out on this body type and it's no longer a good investment?
That's a question R users and experts will answer.

How much was the camera appreciated by its user before it broke? Did it
effortlessly take good pictures or not?

Recently I had a CLA done for my Hasselblad ELM which cost a couple
hundred bucks. As there were some problems. Might have been awhile. This
is what a new used one would cost. I told him to go ahead without
blinking an eyeball. I know similar things have occurred with my Nikon
bodies which I'd used for a few decades and am now using again because
of digital. Sometimes they cost a lot of money to get fixed.

And I know that quite a few of my bodies have had their accumulative
Cla's and so on's. shutter replacements or what not cost on the long run
more than i paid for the camera. Or more than it would cost to get
another one.
To me this means I am maintaining the camera not that I have an
delightful excuse to go shopping.

I recommend having the camera fixed. 
And maintaining it until it proves itself a major lopsided drain on the
users finances. As in multiple incoming large maintenance bills close
together that don't seem to have an end. 
This is not what I'm seeing here. I'm seeing it broke once.

What was his state of mind with the camera before it broke I ask again?
Was it boring him? Was it thrilling him? Somewhere in between?
I find it strange that was omitted.
I only ask because I imagine using a camera which somewone were really
getting in tune with would be a major disappointment when it turned out
to be a major maintenance problem.
That would be a disappointment.
I don't see that here. Or the opposite.

I look forward to when one of my main cameras break… and gets it over with.
It's a much smoother ride generally after that.
But sometimes cameras need work.
And sometimes they need a lot of work.
And sometimes they need fairly regular work. Like medium format systems
with backs.

I don't sell my cameras out!
And they repay me by taking a real nice picture for me every once in a while.

I try not to flit from camera to camera but get to know the inner
nuances of the bodies I use. To me to use a camera I should not have to
think. ... as in where a button might be. My hands should be moving
around without the need of my brain.

The thrill of a new camera is nice in a way, don't get me wrong. But the
thrill of a new important photograph "for me" to add to my body of work
to print over and over again in different sizes and papers and
developers for shows and portfolios does not compare and would rarely
come from the use of a brand new camera body.
Come over to my house I'll show you some photographs. If we have time
afterwards I'll show you some cameras. I think that ones "photography"
efforts become much more enjoying if one takes a similar approach.
Cameras are a means to an end. Decide what you like. Photography or cameras.

By the way the majority of the dozen or so camera bodies I use have hit
the floor or asphalt or gravel one time or another. I'll admit it when
most people won't. I pick them up and keep shooting. And I expect them
to work. Not that i don't break out into a cold sweat.
If that happens to my D100 then I don't know!

I had a Hasselblad CM fly out of my hand and go skimming a half block
down a side gravel street in Cannon Beach. It bounced at least 4 times!
It's first hit was on the lens hood of the 80 CF Which semi collapsed as
I think intended by the clever Swedes. I picked it up and finished the
roll. I brought in for a CLA when I got home and he said it didn't need
one!  I use it all the time. I bought it for 500 bucks 12 years ago!
I'll admit to luck on that one.

My advice is to buy a camera and MARRY IT. Use it up. Drop it. Pick it
up. Fix it. Count it's use to you in Decades! Buy bricks of film for it.
Shoot them. Take the emphasis off buying and selling different cameras
and on to the act of photography itself. This buying and selling stuff
is boring.
If this was the Leica buyers and sellers group I think i would have less
of a point here.
But this is the Leica USERS group.
And although this would obviously take the emphasis away from collecting.
I hope harder it would take the emphasis off of TRADING.
Collecting is a thing unto itself i actually have respect for.
The constant TRADING of one camera for another under the title of some
practice of photography really gets my goat.


Mark Rabiner

Portland, Oregon USA
http://www.rabinergroup.com
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